It is well known that webs wound onto a spool, shaft or winding core can require end support to guide the web during winding and unwinding. This end support also prevents the web from telescoping especially if the web is wound under uneven tension or has a tendency to slide on itself. One example of webs wound on a spool is light-sensitive, photographic materials contained in cassettes or cartridges.
Webs are typically stored on and dispensed from a spool which has a distance between the end flanges of the spool equal to the width of the web. End flanges are often formed integrally as part of the spool. It is also possible to form inner flanges integrally as part of the spool to allow for the winding of multiple webs on a single spool as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,053,795 granted to Wyman, the inventor of this invention.
It is also well known to wind a narrow web on a wider spool or shaft using an adjustable adapter. This type of adapter consists basically of two mating parts which fit around a spool or shaft and are held together with tightening bolts. Once placed on a spool or shaft, the bolts are tightened to clamp the adapter to the spool or shaft. To place this type of adapter to the spool or shaft, it must be either slid on from one end, or disassembled and reassembled around the spool or shaft. If the spool has integral end flanges, this adapter cannot be slid into position. If the flanges are not integral, one end flange must be removed to slide the adapter in place, then reapplied. Because this adapter has numerous components that require assemble when produced, it is expensive to produce, time consuming to assembly, and can be prone to failure.
One-piece clips used to secure brake or shifting cables onto the frame of a bicycle are also well known. This type of clip cannot guide a web if applied to a spool. Rather, it grasps or clamps both the bicycle frame and the cable.
There is a need for a more cost-effective adapter which more easily mounts on a spool, shaft, or core on which a web of material is to be wound and which shortens the effective winding width of the spool.